


Stymphalian Shenanigans

by ericsonclan



Series: A Pirate's Life For Me AU [35]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Backstory, F/M, Flirting, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:21:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26549656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Louis invites Clementine on a scavenging mission to get some quick coin.
Relationships: Clementine/Louis (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: A Pirate's Life For Me AU [35]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683673
Kudos: 4





	Stymphalian Shenanigans

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

It had been about a week now since Clementine and A.J. came onboard Ol’ Kickass and were informally inducted into the Ericson Pirates. Nothing was official yet, but Clementine could tell that the crew was expecting her and A.J. to stay. Apparently that was their recruitment method: run into a stranger and invite them to join the crew, no questions asked. Oddly enough it had worked for them so far: Every member of the Ericson Pirates was intensely loyal and swore that joining the crew was the best thing that had ever happened to them. The whole thing was utterly confusing for Clementine. This wasn’t how pirates operated.

When they reached the nearest port, Clementine had considered leaving with A.J. and not looking back, starting a new life with a clean slate and leaving piracy behind. Louis, the captain, had said they were free to do so if they wished, though Clementine could tell from his expression that he hoped they would stay. In the end, Clementine had decided to stick with the Ericson Pirates, at least for now. She was utterly destitute; running away with nothing to start their new life was folly. The Ericson Pirates had promised her a fair share of the wages if she helped out on the ship.   
She would build up a nest egg first before deciding where she wanted to go.

They were heading for a new port town now, Tanshire. Walking across the deck, Clementine saw that everyone was getting ready to pull into port. With such a small crew, it was rather chaotic work though everyone seemed to know where they needed to be. Clementine helped Violet pull a sail into place, getting a quick thanks from the blonde pirate before she scurried off to another task. Clementine spotted A.J. working with Willy and Tenn up in the rigging as well. The boys seemed to be having fun together, running back and forth and laughing as they got their work done. It was good to see A.J. with other children. He’d never really had that before. Spotting Louis at the helm, Clementine made her way over. She should probably check with him for assignment.

Louis’ tailcoats blew in the breeze as he manned the wheel, his dreadlocks swaying with the rush of salty winds. Noticing Clementine, he looked to her with a smile. “Hey, Clem! What’s up?”

Clementine paused for a second at the prematurely familiar nickname but decided not to comment on it. “Anywhere in particular you need me, captain?”

“Oh, Louis is fine. That’s what everybody else calls me,” the young man grinned, his freckles prominent in the bright sunlight. “And as far as where you should go, I’d say check with Aasim. He’ll know best what stations need the most help,”

Clementine glanced at the wheel in Louis’ hands then back to the port. They were drawing awfully close. “You’re coming in crooked,”

“What was that?”

“The wheel. You should turn farther to the left if you want to avoid hitting the dock,”

Louis squinted out ahead of them. “Ok, so like 45 degrees or…”

“Like this,” Clementine’s’ hands came to rest beside the captain’s, adjusting the wheel accordingly. Louis watched intently, his eyes flitting between her hands and the water in front of them. After a few minutes they had docked the ship safely in the harbor.

Louis whistled appreciatively. “That was some smooth steering! You do it way better than me! Think you can teach me your tricks?”

Clementine shrugged. “It’s just years of experience and muscle memory at this point,” She paused when she saw the disappointment in Louis’ eyes. “But I can try to show you more later if you like,”

“That would be awesome! Man, I can’t believe we have a real pedigreed pirate in our ranks now! No more crashing into piers for us,” Louis pulled on the lapels of his coat proudly.

Clementine quirked an eyebrow. “Just how many times have you crashed into the pier?”

“Well, they’ve been more like light collisions really, just barely brushing the pier on occasion. Lost a few planks from time to time, but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t repair,” Louis glanced down the deck at the sound of a faint voice. “Looks like Ruby’s calling me. I’ll see you later, Clem,” With that he was off, leaving Clementine confused and just slightly impressed that this crew had managed to survive this long.

Ruby had called Louis over to deliver bad news: several of their crates of jujube fruit had gone bad. Apparently, a storm they’d run into a few days before finding Clementine and A.J. had knocked them off course and made their voyage longer than expected, hence the rotten produce. This meant there was far less money to be made at market though. The crew gathered round, waiting for Louis to make a decision.

Louis stood deep in thought, a hand upon his chin. At last he spoke. “We’ll salvage what we can. Marlon, Mitch and Violet will take what we can trade to market. Ruby, Aasim and Brody will collect whatever supplies we can on the funds we have. The boys can go with either group.

“And you?” Aasim questioned.

“I have some business to attend to, hopefully a venture that will refill our coffers,” Louis turned to their newest member. “How about it, Clementine? I could use your dazzling presence and expertise on this one,”

Clementine considered it, looking over to A.J. He stood between Tenn and Willy, excitedly picking through the crates of fruit and tossing the bad pieces over the ship’s edge. She didn’t like the thought of leaving him alone, but she should prove herself useful if she expected to get paid. “Will it take long?”

“We’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail,”

“OK…” Clementine turned to Ruby. “Can you keep an eye on A.J. She knew if anybody could be trusted with that task it was the ship’s doctor.

Ruby nodded, determination in her eyes. “Don’t you worry about nothing, Sug. I’ll make sure he comes to no harm,”

Louis spun round with a dramatic flair. “Then let’s depart!” He headed over to one of the ship’s rowboats, Clementine following closely behind. It only took a few minutes before they were lowered into the water and rowing off for places unknown.

Clementine matched Louis’ speed, eyeing the young captain warily. “So, what exactly is this business venture that has us headed into the middle of the ocean?”

“Well… it’s not exactly a business venture. More like an adventure,”

“Oh?” That piqued Clementine’s interest.

“According to what I’ve heard, there’s a flock of stymphalian birds nesting on a little island not too far from here. At first I thought it would be too risky considering the rumors about the birds-” 

“Such as?”

“Oh, you know: bronze beaks, metal feathers they can hurl at you, poisonous dung…”

“Poisonous what now?”

“I’m sure that last one is false,” Louis said, waving a hand dismissively. “Monster tales are usually wildly exaggerated. Point is, the feathers are worth a lot of money if you can get your hands on them. I figured it would be a big risk going in blind and given how my crew would handle things it might be best to steer clear,”

That was a fair point. Clementine hadn’t been with them long, but she could just imagine Mitch trying to throw his bombs at the birds and getting himself blown up in the process or Willy gagging on a mouthful of dubious dung.

“But with all that fruit going bad, we need fast cash if we’re going to make it to the next port. Buying the jujube fruit was my call and I flubbed it. Should’ve gone for something with a longer shelf life, but I got greedy and impulsive and now thanks to a freak storm, things are tight. So as captain I’m paying the price for my decisions and righting my mistake myself,”

“And you have me along because…?”

“Figured it would be smoother as a two-man operation. One person distracts the birds and the other grabs the feathers. Besides,” Louis have a playful smile, “I’ve been wanting to get to know you. Figured this would be a good bonding exercise,”

Was he… flirting with her? Clementine eyed Louis suspiciously. It was hard to tell with him, he was so friendly with everyone. Best to let it slide. She didn’t want to say something presumptuous and insult him, although from what she’d seen Clementine figured that would be pretty difficult to do.

\---

It was about a half hour of rowing before they reached the island. It was a small, sparsely wooded, rocky mass. There were no birds in sight yet, but according to what Louis had heard, the birds would be a bit further inland. They picked their way carefully across the rocky beach, walking side by side. Louis kept glancing over Clementine’s way. She could tell something was on his mind.

“What is it?”

“Back when we first met and I asked you what had happened to you and A.J., you said it was a shipwreck and you were the sole survivors,”

“That’s right,”

“But that’s not true, is it?”

Clementine’s gut twisted within her. So he had caught the lie. Why not bring it up then? “It’s not,”

“I figured you had your reasons for hiding the truth. Just wondered if now that we know each other a bit better you’d be willing to share,”

Clementine looked at Louis. His gaze was open, trusting. Would it stay the same if he knew the name of the crew she’d been with before? She couldn’t risk it, not while separated from A.J. “I don’t think we’re there quite yet,”

Louis nodded. “Fair enough,”

“It’s not really fair after turning down your question, but can I ask one of my own?”

“Ask away,”

“I heard that you became a pirate after stealing your father’s ship. It’s quite a nice merchant vessel,” Clementine paused, unsure how to word the next part. “You had what most people dream of: a plentiful, stable life. Why give all that up?”

Louis shrugged. “I was unhappy. All of that isn’t worth much if you’re unhappy,” He noted the doubt in Clementine’s eyes. “You’re unconvinced,”

“It sounds like someone who never had to want for anything would say,”

Louis nodded. “Fair enough. This past year at sea hasn’t always been easy, but I’m sure it doesn’t hold a candle to what you’ve been through on the high seas. Still, I don’t regret walking away from that life,”

“But why?”

“Because it wasn’t my own. All my father wanted of me was to follow the plans he had laid before me without question. My whole life was mapped out and he didn’t care at all whether I wanted it or not,”

Clementine shook her head. “Maybe I’m overstepping, but a future as a merchant doesn’t seem like that bad of a fate,”

“It went deeper than that. After my mother died, my father… he wanted control. More than anything. Every moment of my life was monitored, every action I took carefully planned to mold me for success. I stopped being his son; I was simply a project, something he wanted to mold into stronger stuff than I was made of,” Louis looked somewhat sad at those words.

“There was one time Marlon and I snuck out to the market for a day off. Nothing big, just wandering round the city, visiting the marketplace and the docks. My father had servants hunt us down and drag us home. Marlon was beaten for helping me shirk my duties. I wasn’t allowed to see him for a week. After that I knew I had to get out of there. Whatever my father had become, I didn’t want to become that, no matter what. So I stole one of my father’s ships and decided to make my own way in life. And that’s how I find myself here, spending a pleasant day with you,” Louis smiled brightly at Clementine who nodded thoughtfully.

“Maybe no one’s happy, not the rich or poor. We just trick ourselves into thinking there’s something better out there to keep ourselves going,”

“Now that wasn’t the point of my story at all!” Louis scowled. “The point was to take your life into your own hands. Whatever hand you’ve been dealt, you can change it. This may not be the life I expected for myself when I stole that ship, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Each day, each moment, I get to be myself. I couldn’t ask for more,”

It was such a simple desire, to be oneself. Looking back over the years though, Clementine realized it hadn’t been a consideration that even crossed her mind. Survival had come first and foremost, and she’d never been able to get far past that. Who did she even want to be? Someone who kept A.J. safe. Beyond that though, Clementine wasn’t sure.

“We’re here!”

Clementine followed Louis’ outstretched finger to where a flock of birds sat nesting together on the rocky shoreline. They had the appearance of gulls, but somewhat larger. Their beaks shone dully, like metal that had a thin patina from the constant spray of saltwater upon it. Their wings too seemed almost to glisten in the light. Long, pointed metallic feathers gave off shimmers from underneath the cover of softer, regular feathers. There seemed to be at least a few dozen of them, not counting the young that squawked needily from their nests.

Louis gestured for Clementine to follow. They paced along the edge of the tree line, getting as close as they could to the nests without betraying their position. “So I’m thinking one of us serves as a distraction while the other runs among the nests and picks up as many of the bronze feathers as we can,”

“And I’m guessing I was brought along to be that distraction?”

“What? No. It’s me,” Louis gave a broad grin. “After all, I am quite distracting. Charming, theatrical, charismatic…”

“The list could go on and on,” Clementine quipped, smirking at his bravado.

Louis winked playfully before looking back at the flock. “It’s pretty close to the edge, but I figure I can circle round, keep them guessing where I’ll go next before booking it to the woods. We can just keep that up until we have as many of the feathers as possible,”

Clementine nodded. “Be careful,”

“Always, m’lady. Then without further ado…” Louis dramatically stepped out of the woods. Grabbing a coattail in each hand, he began to flap them behind him as he ran forward, cawing loudly. 

“Bkaw! Bkaw! Yo birds, over here!”

Clementine couldn’t help but chuckle. Leave it to Louis to come up with a distraction so dramatic. She scurried out while staying low to the ground, keeping an eye on the stymphalian birds above.

The distraction was certainly effective. All the adult birds flew in Louis’ direction with angry cries, causing him to pick up his speed as he circled round the rookery, still flapping his coat wildly. “Woah! Didn’t know we were playing chicken here! Guess it’s a race then!”

Clementine smiled to herself, entertained by Louis’ commentary as she picked through nest after nest, steering clear of the squealing babies within each one. She was peeved by her haul though.   
Each nest only contained a single bronze feather if any at all. They must not fall out often. They wouldn’t have much to show at this rate. Would they have to capture one of the birds and pluck it themselves?

A started yelp from Louis had her looking up from her work. Clementine followed his gaze to the ground where to her horror she saw a series of feathers embedded in the ground mere inches behind him. When Louis had mentioned the birds could throw their feathers, she’d thought they would be small feathers, only an inch or two long. The ones dropped in the nests were about that size. But these appeared to be almost half a foot in length. If one of those feathers hit either of them, it wouldn’t be an injury they could walk off. “Run!” Clementine called to Louis, cupping her hands round her mouth.

Louis had already circled about halfway round the rookery. It would be quite some distance before he’d reach the safety of the woods. Saving his breath for running, he circled the edge of the nesting ground as quickly as possible, teetering dangerously close to the edge. More feathers came flying his way, falling into the sea as he bent in half to dodge them. As he was about to lift his head, Louis noticed one stymphalian gull flying particularly close overhead. It dropped a load of its own, but this one wasn’t feathers. The poo didn’t come that close to Louis, instead joining the flung feathers in the sea. Louis’ felt his stomach drop though when he saw a dead fish float to the surface, covered in the sticky white substance. “What the shit?!”

“What is it?” Clementine called softly, circling toward him and picking up the feathers strewn along the way.

“Their dung is poisonous after all! Everything’s true!” Picking up his pace, Louis scampered forward, sidestepping nest after nest. “We need to book it!” Louis’ path through the nests seemed to further anger the birds. They began to take turns diving toward him, their sharp beaks snapping at his dreadlocks viciously. “Make for the trees, Clem! Save yourself!”

“Fuck that!” Picking up a rock, Clementine threw it toward the flock of angry gulls. “I’m not gonna leave you!” She picked up another rock, lobbing it at a particularly large bird. The projectile simply bounced off of that animal, not seeming to injure it in any way. It did draw its attention though. The gull turned with an angry look toward Clementine, diving her direction.

“Clem!” Louis called, leaping over nests to try to reach her.

“Caw, caw!” Clementine called, jogging backwards as she kept her eye on the stymphalian gulls. “Come get me, cowards!”

“No! Caw, caw! I’m an imposter, get me!” Louis cried, leaping up and down as he flapped his coat wildly.

Now the gulls were after both of them. It was utter chaos as the pair ran amongst the nests, trying to reunite and reach safety while the flock continued to chase them. The chase continued round and through the rookery till Clementine spotted an opening. “Louis, now!” She sprinted toward the woods, hoping he was close behind her. Reaching their safety, she turned around to see Louis with a squadron of birds on his tail. He leapt into the woods just as a barrage of metal feathers flew through the air. Some hit the trees while others flew past into the woods. When Clementine looked down, she saw Louis collapsed on the ground, pinned in place by several feathers that had cut through his coat and embedded in the dirt.

Clementine ran forward, pulling the feathers out and helping him up. “Keep going! Don’t look back!” The two continued to sprint through the woods and back to the opposite beach, the calls of the stymphalian gulls echoing in their ears and causing their hearts to pound heavily. Racing to the rowboat, they jumped in, tossing in their cargo and beginning to paddle desperately out to sea. On the other side of the island, they could see birds rising above the tree line. The sight made them row all the faster. It was only when the island became a blurred smudge on the horizon that they both collapsed upon the floor of the rowboat, gasping for air.

“That was- way worse- than expected,” Louis managed, his arms spread eagled across both sides of the rowboat. “Sorry,”

“ -‘s fine,” Clementine replied, using her bandana to wipe sweat from her brow. “Definitely a story to remember. And look at the haul we got,” She smiled down at the base of the rowboat, full with over a dozen of the massive feathers. “Can’t believe we grabbed so many,”

Louis whistled appreciatively. “Way to go us, thinking about the moolah even as we fled for our lives. We make quite the team,”

“That we do,” Clementine smirked. “Never thought I’d say that to someone who does such a spot-on impression of a chicken,”

“Um, excuse you, I was a stymphalian gull,” Louis replied, rolling his eyes in mock injury. “True theater isn’t appreciated these days,”

Clementine giggled, her smile hidden behind her hand. “My apologies, good sir,”

Louis smiled back at her. “Y’know, you’re pretty fun when on adventure. I bet you’ll fit right in in no time: a true Ericson pirate,”

Clementine’s face fell at his words.

“Is the welcome premature?”

“Maybe… if you knew the truth,”

Louis’ brow furrowed at those words. “And what’s that?”

Clementine rolled up her sleeve, displaying a large brand on her arm. Louis recognized it immediately: New Frontier. A particularly notorious and bloodthirsty crew of pirates. “Figured you should know before getting too friendly,”

“Oh. Shit,”

“Yeah,” Clementine’s eyes were locked on one of the feathers in the pile, watching it as the rowboat rose and fell with each gentle wave. “I can leave as soon as we get back to the boat. Me and A.J.”

“I’m guessing you joined them out of necessity?”

Clementine’s eyes looked up to search Louis’. There was no judgment there. “Yes. I had nothing left,”

“And you escaped?”

“I was kicked out. Punishment for stealing,”

“What did you steal?” Louis’ gaze was steady, searching.

“Medicine. A.J. was sick. He’d have died without it,”

Louis nodded thoughtfully. “You stuck by him,”

“I would do anything for A.J.”

“You stuck by me too, back at the rookery. I told you to run and you didn’t,”

“I knew I could help,”

“Before they joined my crew, Violet, Mitch, Tenn and Willy were thieves. I met Violet when she was trying to rob me. Only figure that out later though,” Louis gave a rueful chuckle. “We met Aasim in jail. He’s been put there for running dozens of cons. Ruby was our jailer. Helped us escape and wrecked all future job prospects in the process. Brody’s a runaway and Omar… honestly, I’m still not sure why Omar decided to stick with us. The point is, everybody in the crew has a past they’d like to forget, someone they used to be but aren’t anymore. So, Clementine,” Louis extended his hand. “I want to offer you that same thing. Whatever’s in the past, you can leave it there. Would you like to officially become an Ericson pirate?”

Clementine’s mouth was dry. He was seriously offering this after what she had just revealed? She could tell from the look in Louis’ eye that this was genuine though; he meant what he said. A second chance at life, a new start… could that really happen at sea? Clementine wanted to believe it was possible. If Louis was willing to give it a try, then so was she. Clementine took his hand in hers, shaking it firmly. “I do,”

Louis smiled brightly, a laugh escaping his lips. “Then welcome to the crew!”


End file.
